Lignocellulosic materials are excellent sources for energy products, platform chemicals and bioplastics. Sugars produced by the degradation of carbohydrate polymers can be fermented into ethanol and butanol as energy sources. Sugars and cellulose degradation compounds can serve as platform chemicals in the production of bulk chemicals and they can also be used as feedstocks for microbial production of plastics such as polyhydrolxyalkanoates.
See, U.S. Pat. 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7,993,463; 7,981,646; 7,981,644; 7,981,643; 7,977,450; 7,972,832; 7,967,904; 7,964,383; 7,960,528; 7,960,160; 7,960,151; 7,960,148; 7,960,146; 7,954,734; 7,951,571; 7,951,570; 7,947,813; 7,946,295; 7,943,363; 7,939,488; 7,932,072; 7,932,065; 7,931,784; 7,927,854; 7,923,236; 7,923,235; 7,923,233; 7,910,347; 7,906,704; 7,901,511; 7,887,862; 7,875,292; 7,867,745; 7,838,666; 7,829,732; 7,816,581; 7,811,799; 7,810,507; 7,807,434; 7,803,601; 7,786,351; 7,786,350; 7,785,854; 7,754,457; 7,741,089; 7,732,173; 7,727,754; 7,727,746; 7,723,568; 7,709,697; 7,682,811; 7,670,813; 7,659,099; 7,651,582; 7,642,079; 7,632,479; 7,611,882; 7,601,529; 7,592,434; 7,592,163; 7,585,652; 7,582,462; 7,547,534; 7,527,959; 7,504,120; 7,503,981; 7,459,299; 7,452,707; 7,449,550; 7,449,319; 7,431,942; 7,407,788; 7,399,855; 7,399,485; 7,381,553; 7,361,736; 7,351,573; 7,351,568; 7,344,871; 7,320,886; 7,273,742; 7,226,773; 7,226,772; 7,198,925; 7,183,093; 7,172,891; 7,144,716; 7,083,673; 7,070,805; 7,067,303; 7,056,721; 7,049,125; 7,048,952; 7,045,332; 7,045,331; 7,033,811; 7,005,289; 6,982,159; 6,911,565; 6,908,995; 6,894,199; 6,878,199; 6,855,531; 6,818,434; 6,815,192; 6,768,001; 6,713,460; 6,630,340; 6,620,605; 6,566,114; 6,555,335; 6,555,228; 6,500,658; 6,451,063; 6,444,653; 6,420,165; 6,399,351; 6,387,690; 6,333,181; 6,328,994; 6,268,197; 6,268,196; 6,228,630; 6,207,436; 6,197,564; 6,174,700; 6,153,413; 6,140,105; 6,132,998; 6,130,076; 6,110,712; 6,080,567; 6,074,856; 6,069,136; 6,048,715; 6,017,740; 6,013,490; 6,010,870; 6,008,176; 6,005,141; 6,001,639; 5,989,887; 5,962,278; 5,962,277; 5,908,649; 5,885,819; 5,874,276; 5,871,550; 5,866,392; 5,863,783; 5,861,271; 5,792,630; 5,786,313; 5,770,010; 5,747,082; 5,705,369; 5,693,518; 5,683,911; 5,554,520; 5,518,902; 5,505,950; 5,503,996; 5,487,989; 5,464,832; 5,458,899; 5,437,992; 5,424,417; 5,424,202; 5,416,210; 5,395,623; 5,395,455; 5,391,561; 5,302,592; 5,300,672; 5,292,762; 5,179,127; 5,171,570; 5,170,620; 5,166,390; 5,151,447; 5,149,524; 5,118,681; 5,112,382; 5,102,898; 5,091,399; 5,081,026; 5,059,654; 5,055,308; 5,037,663; 5,023,275; 4,975,459; 4,950,597; 4,851,394; 4,831,127; 4,713,118; 4,694,906; 4,628,029; 4,594,130; 4,540,587; 4,431,675; 4,321,360; 4,321,328; 4,321,278; 4,292,406; 4,275,163; 4,260,685; 4,235,968; 4,058,411; 4,017,642; 3,990,944; Published Patent application Nos. 20130065270; 20130060070; 20130052713; 20130052698; 20130052694; 20130052693; 20130046120; 20130046119; 20130046032; 20130045891; 20130040352; 20130035525; 20130035524; 20130035523; 20130035522; 20130035521; 20130035520; 20130035519; 20130035518; 20130035516; 20130034891; 20130034888; 20130032466; 20130030215; 20130029382; 20130023608; 20130014293; 20130012424; 20130011895; 20130011887; 20130011886; 20120329104; 20120329100; 20120329096; 20120325203; 20120323050; 20120323049; 20120322121; 20120322078; 20120321581; 20120316376; 20120316330; 20120315683; 20120309060; 20120301944; 20120291160; 20120289607; 20120289450; 20120283493; 20120282664; 20120277491; 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Each of the foregoing references is expressly incorporated herein by reference it their entirety.
Paper mills, especially those recycling old cardboard containers (OCC) produce large quantities of fiber fragments which pass through into the waste stream. These fines are composed primarily of cellulose and hemicellulose (amorphous short chain polymers of substituted hexoses and pentoses). They are the source of substantial bioburden due to their long time decay in the environment. Since they contribute substantially to the oxygen demand in the effluents, they are typically separated and sent to landfills by the paper mills. Current landfilling costs are nearly $60/ton, and thus disposal costs to the paper mills are to the tune of $1.5 million/year based on typical sludge production at an average size paper mills in NY at 100 tons/day.
These costs are projected to increase substantially in the future due to the pressure on landfill space. Therefore there is an acute need to divert the wastes, perhaps extracting value through products which not only are marketable but also reduce the landfill volumes.
The waste stream from recycled paper mills contains cellulosic fines and also particles of mineral origin, typically clay or calcium carbonate from the fillers and coatings used in the waste paper. The cellulosic fines are easily hydrolyzable by either acid or enzymatic processes. In the enzymatic process, a cocktail of cellulose enzymes acts progressively and sequentially to open up the cellulose crystalline structure and depolymerize it, producing monomeric sugars. The sugars are primarily glucose and certain other common hexoses which are fermentable into ethanol, butanol or other advanced energy products. Microbial fermentation can also lead to bioplastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates.
A sample set of fines rejected from a recycled paper mill was obtained. The composition is presented in Table 1 below.
Though the properties of sludge differ not only for different mills but also at different times at same mill, Table 1 is exemplary of possible conditions. The pH of sludge varies between 6 and 8. Ash content is very high for recycled papermills. The short fibers (mainly cellulose fibers) go to belt filter and then to screw press. In general, the PCS contains very high levels of dry solids because it is rich in hydrophobic fibers. To summarize, PCS is a mixture of cellulose fibre (40-65% of dry solids), printing inks and mineral components (25-40% dry solids: kaolin, talc and calcium carbonate). Due to high fiber content PCS has large amount of carbon (around 50% C dry solids) and mineral matter (clay and calcium carbonate, 5-25% dry solids).
TABLE 1DeinkingDeinkingRecycleRecycle papermill[19]mill [20]mill [22]mill [22]Total4550.5Solids %4242Ash %20.21432.8